1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plant protection discharge apparatus for plant crops, such as agricultural row crops, having e.g. at least one discharge unit to be moved over a row of plants. This discharge unit forms a treatment zone or a passage for the plants and can have discharge means for treatment media.
2. Prior Art
Such plant protection discharge apparatus are more particularly used for the treatment of standard plants, such as grapevines, the media to be discharged serving to protect the plants, fertilize them or provide similar treatments. It is generally wished to apply the treatment agent in such a way that the plants are intensely covered or wetted also when in leaf in a large or complete-area manner, both on the plant stem and branches and on both sides of the leaves.
This is very difficult when at the same time ensuring an adequate working speed and is not satisfied by known discharge apparatus. In particular the use of large treatment medium quantities leads to a supersaturation of the soil and therefore to poorer harvests or to the soil being impaired by the treatment agents.
In the case of the hitherto known blower spray technology there has been a very considerable drifting of the spray mist into the environment and in particular into the area surrounding the particular crops. Wind and thermal influences carry the discharged medium into the atmosphere in an uncontrolled manner and in part the water is evaporated.
German utility model 81 27 328 discloses a plant protection sprayer, which has for each treatment zone a separate cross-flow blower for a carrier gas flow with associated nozzle unit and a deflection wall with a collecting device for returning excess treatment medium optionally facing the same in spaced manner on the other side of the treatment zone. This sprayer suffers from numerous disadvantages, because in particular the return of the excess treatment medium is problematical, the construction of the blower arrangement complicated and the security against freely exiting spray mist which is therefore lost without wetting the plants is inadequate.